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Cost & Benefits

Compare / Hartford to Knoxville

Hartford, CT vs Knoxville, TN

Simple answer

You'd likely save $458 a month in Knoxville.

This is the HUD 2-bedroom fair-market rent for October 2026 through September 2027. It is not your lease.

The largest cost gap in this pair is housing prices. The BEA housing price parity differs by 27.5 points (Hartford 110.2, Knoxville 82.8).

Connecticut taxes wages at rates up to 6.99%. Tennessee has no tax on wages. Combined sales tax differs by 3.3 percentage points, higher in Tennessee. The effective property tax gap is 1.21 percentage points, higher in Connecticut.

After a move from Connecticut to Tennessee, these benefit results change for a family of four at $40,000 and a single adult at $18,000: Marketplace premium tax credits, Medicaid and CHIP.

A $75,000 salary in Hartford lines up with about $67,571 in Knoxville on the 2024 all-items price parity. Census median gross rent and the commute figures are 2024. Fair Market Rents are fiscal year 2027.

Hartford

Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$1,933
HUD area
Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT MSA
Census median gross rent
$1,458
All-items price parity
102.7
Goods price parity
97.3
Utilities price parity
144.9
Mean commute
24.3 min
Median household income
$94,419

Knoxville

Knoxville, TN

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$1,475
HUD area
Knoxville, TN HUD Metro FMR Area
Census median gross rent
$1,219
All-items price parity
92.6
Goods price parity
96.2
Utilities price parity
71.9
Mean commute
24.7 min
Median household income
$74,184

Equivalent salary

The first number keeps the same place in the national price level. The second also runs 2026 federal income tax, employee Social Security and Medicare, and a simplified state income tax. Groceries use the BEA goods price parity, not a grocery receipt.

Same buying power

$67,571

Salary in Knoxville that matches the 2024 all-items regional price parity.

After state and federal tax

$63,490

Gross salary in Knoxville whose after-tax pay buys the same basket, using price parities.

Rent only

$57,230

Scales the salary by the ratio of HUD 2-bedroom Fair Market Rents. Rent is not the whole budget.

Taxes on the two sides of the move

TaxConnecticutTennessee
State income tax on wagesup to 6.99%No wage tax
Combined sales tax, Jan 1, 20266.3%9.6%
Effective property tax, ACS 2024 median / median1.66%0.45%

On a $400,000 home, the state median effective rate implies about $6,624 a year in Connecticut and $1,790 in Tennessee. That illustration is not a local bill. Childcare prices are not in the verified dataset for these metros.

Benefits if you land in Tennessee

Same household, $40,000 a year, scored once in Connecticut and once in Tennessee. This is an illustration, not your application.

  • Food stamps (SNAP)

    HartfordLikely eligible

    KnoxvilleLikely eligible

  • Medicaid and CHIP

    HartfordLikely eligible

    KnoxvilleLikely eligible

  • WIC

    HartfordLikely eligible

    KnoxvilleLikely eligible

  • School meals

    HartfordLikely eligible

    KnoxvilleLikely eligible

  • LIHEAP

    HartfordMaybe

    KnoxvilleMaybe

  • Earned Income Tax Credit

    HartfordLikely eligible

    KnoxvilleLikely eligible

  • Child Tax Credit

    HartfordLikely eligible

    KnoxvilleLikely eligible

  • Marketplace premium tax credits

    HartfordUnlikely

    KnoxvilleLikely eligible

  • Lifeline phone and internet

    HartfordLikely eligible

    KnoxvilleLikely eligible

  • SSI

    HartfordUnlikely

    KnoxvilleUnlikely

Marketplace premium tax credits changes. In Hartford the result is “Unlikely — Medicaid is the closer program.” In Knoxville it is “Likely inside the 2026 subsidy range.” Connecticut expanded Medicaid, and this income is in the Medicaid range. Marketplace subsidies are usually not the program in that case.

Medicaid guide for Tennessee · SNAP guide

Related comparisons

From Hartford

The eight largest 2-bedroom Fair Market Rent gaps from Hartford.

Nearby metros

How the salary and tax math works · The reverse city order redirects to this address.